Improvement in corn picking and husking machines



S..R KENYON. CORN PIGKING AND HUSKING MACHINE.

No. 113,174. Patented Mar. 28, 1871.

mu 1 i nun UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFIo .SILAS R. neuron, or GREEiIvILLnRHoDE ISLAND, nssrorivon To IMs Lr AND WILLIAM D. vnnunmor ELIZA ET QNE JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN PICKING VANVVD H-USK'ING- MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 113,174, dated March 28, 1871. i

To all whom it concern.- 7 7 Be it known that I, SILAS It. KENYON, of

.Greenville, in the county of Providence and the point of contact'of the cylinder and roller that the stem of the ear is not broken ofi' close to the ear, and sometimes the ear is caught and remains stationary instead of dropping down into the husking-rollers.

My invention is made for the purpose of breaking the stem off closely to the ear without injuring the said ear, and thereby separating the outer or weather-beaten 'husks'from the inner husks and conveying them away from the machine with the stalks. I also con-. struct the machine so that the hnsks and silk cannot wrap around the journals of .the huskin g-lrollers, and I provide a movable cover over the husking-rollers,,that is made 'to form the :upperside of'the hopperthroat.

In the. drawing, Figure 1 1s a vertical sec-- tion, longitudinally of the machine; Fig. 2 is a plan with the feeding-table removed, and partot the cover to the husking-rollers also removed, so as to show the ends of the husking-rollers. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the machine at the line -40 m, Fig. 1. Figqetis a section, showing the picker-plate and its supporting-block; and Fig. 5 is an endrvie w of the boxes for the lower endsof the journals of the husking-rollers. v V v The frame a is of suitable size and shape, and carries the picking-cylinder b and other parts of the machine. The picking-cylinder ismade with bars or ribs running along its sides, and the journals of this cylinder are supported in suitable boxes, and power is ap plied to the same bya fly'wheel, b, or other;

wise. 4

Above the cylinder'bare the rollers 01 d and e, the roller 0 being driven by band-wheeled or otherwise, so as to be revolved,land "the rollers 01 d may either be free tov turn or be also revolved.

The picker-plate f is made of a form to set closely to but not touch the pickencyl inder, and it is adjusted in the arc of a circle par:

allel, or nearly so, to the surface of the byline".

der 1), so as to bring the upper edge of said picker-plate nearer-to .or farther fromr-the picker-roller e, in order that a mouth maybe left ofa width to admit the passage of the corn-stalks; but the'edgeof this'picker-pla'te arrests the ear and prevents its being carried. against therol'lers'd e"; rhence theear wilino't be injured, and the' edge of this picker-plate is so near the point where the stem is. nipped and broken upwardby the action of the pickercylinder 1) and rolleryethat the stem of the earis broken off so close .to the ear that the outside husks are carried through with the stalk, and the ear drops-down into the h1'1sk-' ing portion of the machine.

The picker-plate 1's set at,1ts endls upon segmental bearing-blocks h, (shown in detached. view, Fig. 4,) that are also adjustable, so that the inner surface of the picker-plate may be brought close tothe-pi'cker-cylinder. By this construction the machine can be adjusted and adapted to the various characters of corn.

The picker-roller is to be set in yieldingbearings, the necessary pressure being applied to the same by springs or otherwise.-

The stalks of? corn are laid upon thedtable q, and fed inbetween the rollers 12 and e and beneath the incline q, and the rollers (1 guide the stalks as they pass out of the machine and almost, straight. v

If the plate 7 stood at an'inclination, as has before been the case, the ear would take against bend'them down,- so that they will 'be' delivered its inclined surface and, wedge between that- -,and the roller- 0; but,-in consequence of the picker-plate f standing so that the ear takes against its upper edge, this difliculty. is

avoided, and the ear is broken o'if short and drops into the hopper.

The husking-rollersl are arranged in one or two pairs, set at an inclination, and they are mounted injournals and revolved by gearing over the upper ends of the rollers l, so as to prevent the fibers or. husks winding around the journals'of the rollers ll; and'the journal. boxes-w have projections at their inner ends, passing beneath'the projecting "lips 3 of the stationary boxes w, so as to. hold down their inner ends, and the screws 4 serve to adjust the pressure that keeps the rollers in contact. I preferto have these rollersl of indiarrubber. Theincline t conducts .the cars from the pick in g to the Iiusking portion of the machine, and a cover, 8, is provided above the bushingrollers to prevent the ears of corniassuming a vertical position in consequence of the rollers grasping the husks at the ends of the ears.

The cover is made witlra curved upward inclination,1s', at the upper end, forming, with the incline t, a mouth for receiving the ears,

and this cover is sustained by the screws-rods 6, that pass through the cross-bars 7. Adjust-- f i'ng nuts or screws are provided, so that the cover can be raised or lowered to adapt the machine to different qualiticsof corn.

- The covers, the suspendingrods 6, and the cross-bars 7 can-be lifted out of the machine whenever access is required to the bushingrollers. This coveris preferably made of castiron, so as to be properly shaped at the receivingend, in the manner shown. By having this-' cover-made as a compound curve, the ears are iguided'into a space that gradually becomes Fnarrower, so that the earcannot tur'n upon end when seized by'the basking-rollers, but passes gradually down the inclined rollers until entirelydeprived of husk.

Basking-machines have been made with an inclined end to the cover, and beneath this 1 the ears have passed; but thisinclined end was'in such a position to the conductor and 2 a mans .husking-rollers that the rollers, seizing .the ends of the husk before the ear was beneath" coming against the under side of that portion of the covers'that is partially above the conductor t, thereby keeping the ear down in such a manner that it is obliged to pass down the. rollers upon its side. A knife, f is applied below the picker-cylinder, to clear from the same any leaves that may wind around it.

This knife or bar is adjustable by slots and screws.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The picker-plate f, made adjustable in the arc of a circle, parallel, or nearly so, to the picker-cylinder I), in combination with said cylinder b and roller 0, substantially as and -for she purposes set forth. I

2. In combination with the bushing-rollers l, the caps n of the journal-boxes m, when said caps are made to extend over the upper ends 'of said rollers, as described and shown, and

for the purposes specified.

3. in combination with the basking-rollers l and inclined conductor t, the cover 8, provided with the curved end 8, when arranged in relation to said conductor as shown, and for the purpose described and set forth.

4. Thecover s, formed with a curved inclination, 8, at the receiving end, in combination with the adjustable suspending-rods 6 and cross bar or bars 7, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed this 24th day of January, A. D. 1871.

p v SILAS R. KENYON.

' Witnesses:

Guns H. SMITH, a

GEO. T. PINCKNEY. 

